Gastrointestinal issues

Gastrointestinal issues are not associated with a dog consuming a high fat diet

Gastrointestinal issues refer to a plethora of conditions, however for the purpose of this discussion will relate to diarrhea, vomiting, bloating and abdominal pain. Why? Because these are commonly believed to be associated with dogs consuming a high fat diet. The thought process behind this view is based a high fat meal being “too much” for a dog’s digestive system to cope with. More specifically, a diet with this macronutrient as the dominant energy source is believed to inflame the pancreatitis, exacerbating these GI issues. But is the view correct? I decided to investigate this and see what the truth was.

I found that after being fed a baseline commercial extruded diet, with 24 hours later switching one group of dogs to a high carbohydrate and the other a high fat diet, no significant difference in faecal scoring was observed. This analysis also continued over the eight duration of the study. Additionally, no abdominal pain, bloating or vomiting was detected in either group of dogs.

In addition to examining these factors I also assessed the faecal bacteria in the groups of dogs. I found that significant differences in populations of bacteria were chiefly associated with the high fat diet fed dogs compared to baseline (when the dogs were all fed an extruded diet) and those which consumed the high carbohydrate diet. The term dysbiosis is often defined as an “imbalance” in the faecal microbial community that is associated with disease. So, what is correct balance? The answer is we currently don’t know. However again from my own research, I found that when I analysed scat samples from wild wolves in Alaska, bacteria similarities with dogs fed a high fat diet where present, that were not evident in dogs fed a high carbohydrate diet.

In essence more is still to be learnt concerning the differences in the bacteria populations of dogs fed diets varying in macronutrient composition. However, I can say with confidence based on my own findings, that when dogs eat a high fat diet, no gastrointestinal issues were apparent in just 24 hours from consuming a high carbohydrate diet.